Matthew 2
1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem,
2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, "In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are not the least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you shall come a Ruler Who will shepherd My people Israel.'"
7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also."
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was.
10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
Let me point out Three obvious, but important facts from this chapter.
First, I want you to note that we are not told how many were in this group. I know your nativity set shows three wise men, but there were three gifts mentioned, not three wise men. A long journey would not be made by just a few men…especially if you were carrying valuables! This was probably a large entourage. So large that it would attract the attention of everyone in town. These people were not exactly quiet when they arrived:
2 saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him."
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
The Greek implies that they were “asking continually” where is the one who was born king? The entire city was disturbed by the commotion they were stirring up.
Second, Jesus was not an infant at this time. Because of our traditions we picture the wise men arriving at the stable shortly after the shepherds. But that is not what we are taught in Matthew 2.
11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him.
We know that Jesus was a couple of years old because of what Herod’s command.
Matthew 2:16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.
Let’s look at our last obvious, but important truth:
Third, there was significance to each of the gifts they brought.
Listen to the last sentence in verse 11:
11. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
· The gift of the gold
Gold is the metal of royalty.
2 Samuel 12:30 Then he took their king's crown from his head. Its weight was a talent of gold, with precious stones. And it was set on David's head.
Listen to what was said about Solomon’s day:
All King Solomon's drinking vessels were gold, and all the vessels of the House of the Forest of Lebanon were pure gold. Not one was silver, for this was accounted as nothing in the days of Solomon. (2 Chronicles 9:19-20)
Even in the future, Gold will continue to be the metal of Royalty:
Revelation 14:14 And I looked, and behold, a white cloud, and on the cloud sat One like the Son of Man, having on His head a golden crown, and in His hand a sharp sickle.
Gold is part of the New Jerusalem.
Revelation 21:21 And the street of the city was pure gold, like transparent glass.
The gift of gold proclaimed:
“He is the King”
2. The gift of frankincense
Frankincense is a gum or resin obtained by cutting the bark of certain types of trees. It has a fragrance which in only released under pressure or fire.
In the Old Testament it was connected to priestly activities:
Exodus 30
34. And the LORD said to Moses: "Take sweet spices, stacte and onycha and galbanum, and pure frankincense with these sweet spices; there shall be equal amounts of each.
35. You shall make of these an incense, a compound according to the art of the perfumer, salted, pure, and holy.
36. And you shall beat some of it very fine, and put some of it before the Testimony in the tabernacle of meeting where I will meet with you. It shall be most holy to you.
It was regularly used in the offering process.
Leviticus 2
1. 'When anyone offers a grain offering to the LORD, his offering shall be of fine flour. And he shall pour oil on it, and put frankincense on it.
It was also used on the showbread in the tabernacle
Leviticus 24:
5. "And you shall take fine flour and bake twelve cakes with it. Two-tenths of an ephah shall be in each cake.
6. You shall set them in two rows, six in a row, on the pure gold table before the LORD.
7. And you shall put pure frankincense on each row, that it may be on the bread for a memorial, an offering made by fire to the LORD.
Frankincense would be useful to one who was a priest.
The gift of frankincense proclaimed:
“He is the Priest”
· The gift of myrrh
Myrrh was an aromatic spice used for embalming the dead.
John 19:
38. After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus.
39. And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.
40. Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen with the spices, as the custom of the Jews is to bury.
When myrrh was mixed with wine it became a narcotic.
Mark 15
22. And they brought Him to the place Golgotha, which is translated, Place of a Skull.
23. Then they gave Him wine mingled with myrrh to drink, but He did not take it.
24. And when they crucified Him, they divided His garments, casting lots for them to determine what every man should take.
The myrrh spoke of death, just as the swaddling clothes they wrapped Him in.
· We read a moment ago "Then they took the body of Jesus, and bound it in strips of linen" (John 19:40)
· Luke in writing of Jesus' birth wrote "And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." (Luke 2:7)
From the beginning throughout His life, Jesus came for a single purpose; myrrh refers to that purpose. Jesus explained that purpose.
Mark 10:45 “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Listen to how clearly the purpose for Jesus coming was explained in the book of Isaiah:
Isaiah 53
4. Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.
5. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement for our peace was upon Him, and by His stripes we are healed.
6. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned, every one, to his own way; and the LORD has laid on Him the iniquity of us all.
Jesus substituted for us.
He was the substitute:
· For our griefs
· For our sorrows
· For our transgressions
· For our iniquities
· For our peace
· For our sickness
· For our straying
He took upon Himself everything I deserved. The third gift brought by the wise men spoke of the substitutionary work that Jesus would do.
The gift of myrrh proclaimed:
“He is the Substitute”
We have looked at three obvious, but important facts:
· We were not told how many wise men came
· Jesus was not an infant when they came
· There was significance to each of the gifts they brought.
I love to make application of the word to our lives. I love to see how something written in the first century applies to us. Let me give you Four Application Points
Four Application Points
1. True believers can be found in places you don’t expect
God has His people in all kinds of places.
Listen to what the Lord told Paul when He was ministering in Corinth.
Acts 18
8 Then Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed on the Lord with all his household. And many of the Corinthians, hearing, believed and were baptized.
9 Now the Lord spoke to Paul in the night by a vision, "Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent;
10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to hurt you; for I have many people in this city."
God had already positioned believers in places of authority to protect Paul.
There may be times when you think you are the only one, but God has others!
1 Kings 19
9 And there he went into a cave, and spent the night in that place; and behold, the word of the LORD came to him, and He said to him, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
10 So he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; for the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
(Remember the Wind came, an earthquake happened, and fire appeared, but God was not in any of them. They were followed by a still small voice.)
13 So it was, when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. Suddenly a voice came to him, and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"
14 And he said, "I have been very zealous for the LORD God of hosts; because the children of Israel have forsaken Your covenant, torn down Your altars, and killed Your prophets with the sword. I alone am left; and they seek to take my life."
God give Elijah instructions, and then He said,
18 “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
God has His people in a lot of unexpected places.
Four Application Points
2. Rarely do the most privileged honor God
When I read this account from Matthew 2, I wonder, “Why didn’t the chief priests drop everything and to Bethlehem?”
Listen to what Jesus had to say about the leaders in His day.
Matthew 13:13-15 “Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: ‘Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.’”
Remember Paul’s warning about privilege?
1 Corinthians 10
1 Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea,
2 all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea,
3 all ate the same spiritual food,
4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
5 But with most of them God was not well pleased, for their bodies were scattered in the wilderness.
6 Now these things became our examples, to the intent that we should not lust after evil things as they also lusted.
7 And do not become idolaters as were some of them. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."
8 Nor let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them did, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell;
9 nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted, and were destroyed by serpents;
10 nor complain, as some of them also complained, and were destroyed by the destroyer.
11 Now all these things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.
Don’t squander the opportunities you have been given by taking God’s grace for granted!
Hebrews 12:14-15 Pursue peace with all people, and holiness, without which no one will see the Lord: looking diligently lest anyone fall short of the grace of God
Don’t fall short of the grace of God.
Four Application Points
3. It is possible to know the word in your head and have it missing from your heart
It is not just a matter of hearing the word. Remember the parable of the sower.
Matthew 13:19 “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, then the wicked one comes and snatches away what was sown in his heart. This is he who received seed by the wayside.”
According to what we are taught in the book of James there needs to be a yielding to the word.
James 1:21 Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls.
The writer of Hebrews told us that the hearing of the word has to be mixed with faith.
Hebrews 4:2 For indeed the gospel was preached to us as well as to them; but the word which they heard did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in those who heard it.
There has to be a connection between the word and our hearts.
Psalms 119:11 Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin against You!
We must allow the word to dwell in us.
Colossians 3:16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Four Application Points
4. Spiritual diligence demonstrates our faith
The wise men traveled a great distance, and they didn’t think about it being too far. They didn’t start, get half way there, and turn back. With no guarantees they endured.
There was something very similar was written about Moses.
Hebrews 11:27 By faith he forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he endured as seeing Him who is invisible.
Moses had no guarantees, yet he too endured.
Endurance reveals our faith. Jesus said:
Matthew 24:13 “But he who endures to the end shall be saved.”
Listen to what the book of Hebrews teaches us:
Hebrews 6
11 And we desire that each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end,
12 that you do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises.
13 For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
14 saying, "Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you."
15 And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
· each one of you show the same diligence to the full assurance of hope until the end
Show diligence! Be fully assured that what you hope for will happen.
· do not become sluggish, but imitate those who through faith and patience inherit the promises
Don’t become slack or sluggish. Don’t let up. You have a lot of examples. We have biblical examples and modern day examples. You personally know believers who have endured incredibly hard things, follow their example!
· after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise.
You will obtain the everything God has promised you AFTER you have endured. If you don’t endure, you don’t obtain the promises.
Four Application Points
1. True believers can be found in places you don’t expect
2. Rarely do the most privileged honor God
3. It is possible to know the word in your head and have it missing from your heart
4. Spiritual diligence demonstrates your faith